Trisha Yearwood has a new best friend, and it’s none other than Lainey Wilson. The two artists spoke with each other recently for The Artist Interview at the Country Radio Seminar, which was sponsored by ASCAP. Yearwood is a two-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year recipient, while Wilson is the current CMA New Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year.
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The artist-to-artist format of this interview was a departure from previous Artist Interviews at CRS. This unique opportunity proved to be illuminating for those in attendance and for Wilson and Yearwood as well. Yearwood even made a statement to Wilson on behalf of country music itself.
“I want to say thank you,” Yearwood began, “and I’ve heard other people say this to you, but I really do believe that … country music is lucky to have you. We are in your corner and country music is in good hands. I’m proud of what you’re doing.”
Yearwood then clarified that they were now “best friends” and they could “hang out and talk about this some more.” Wilson shared that being interviewed by Trisha Yearwood was “one of those call-back moments” for her.
According to a Lainey Wilson fanpage on Instagram, both Wilson and Yearwood called their sisters following the interview to “tell them how nice each other were,” and Yearwood said as much in the interview.
Lainey Wilson Recalls the Radio DJ Who Told Her She Was Just “Not That Good” During Her Early Career
During the interview with Trisha Yearwood, Lainey Wilson recalled a defining moment in her early career while she was on a radio tour, which is where artists are booked on back-to-back radio shows in an effort to get their music and presence on major radio stations.
“I go in and we waited in the foyer,” Wilson began her story. “He brings us into his office and he said, ‘Play me what you got.’ This was my first single, ‘Dirty Looks.’ He said, ‘You should have left your guitar in the car. I don’t want to hear you play. I want to hear what it sounds like through the speakers.’ Well, he had like 1997 computer speakers, so of course you couldn’t understand anything that the song was saying.”
She continued, “He listened to it twice, back-to-back. I was just sitting there and he let the second time finish. He leans across his desk and he said, ‘Lainey, you’re just not that good.’ And I leaned across his desk and I said, ‘So-and-so, out of the 10 years that I’ve been in Nashville, you telling me that don’t mean s–t.’”
Wilson recalled that this moment was enough to get her working harder, instead of throwing her off her game. “It did light another fire underneath me,” she said. “After I left there, I was like, ‘Okay, at the end of the day you put yourself out there. Not everybody’s going to like you or love you.’ I think moments like that, they’re not fun. But if anything, they do build character.”
Featured Image by Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images
